“In the Envelope: The Actor’s Podcast” features intimate, in-depth conversations with today’s most noteworthy film, television, and theater actors and creators. Full of both know-how and inspiration, “In the Envelope” airs weekly to cover everything from practical advice on navigating the industry, to how your favorite projects are made, to personal stories of success and failure alike. Join host and Awards Editor Jack Smart for this guide on how to live the creative life from those who are doing it every day. This episode is brought to you by AppleTV+.
“Every time I walk onto a set for the first day, I feel like I know nothing,” admits Hailee Steinfeld. And for working actors, she says, that’s as it should be.
“Those first-day nerves totally come into play and I feel like it’s something I’ve never done before. And I hope that feeling never goes away. I don’t think it will. I just think you’re constantly stepping into new territory with new people in new environments. Although it’s all ‘rolling, action, cut,’ everything in between is always going to be different.”
Steinfeld relishes that newness almost as much as she relishes taking on roles that require stretching herself as an artist. “I would love to speak to an actor that’s ever possibly gotten bored with being an actor,” she says with a laugh. “I don’t know that I’ll ever, ever get bored or not feel challenged or not feel scared.”
Her breakthrough role in the 2010 Coen brothers western “True Grit” opposite Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon certainly set the precedent for feeling challenged. The 13-year-old Steinfeld’s performance as Mattie Ross earned her film accolades aplenty, including an Academy Award nomination for supporting actress. Although it kicked into high gear a thriving career as both actor and eventually singer-songwriter, that big break was the result of hard work and plenty of painful rejection, says Steinfeld. Her mother in particular offered support while managing expectations, something she recommends for other young stars and their parents.
How to Become a Child Actor “The fact that she didn’t give up on me is why I’m here,” says Steinfeld. “The level of rejection that is faced—throughout your entire career, not just in the beginning—is brutal. I was so young and I remember hearing my parents having conversations about, ‘She wants this, right? Is this what she wants?’ ”
Steinfeld’s obsession with becoming a professional actor began at age 8, seeing her cousin appear on their living room TV screen in a commercial. “It was this massive screen that felt like it took up the entire wall, and my cousin’s face was in the center of it. Suddenly [acting] became something that was so real,” she remembers. “My mom, knowing that it required a lot more of a commitment than I did (or probably was ever prepared for at that point in my life at 8 years old), she said, ‘If you take acting classes for a full year, we’ll look into it.’ ”
In the decade since “True Grit,” Steinfeld has taken on a wide variety of roles, from “Ender’s Game” and “Romeo and Juliet” to the “Pitch Perfect” movies (which launched her career as a pop star), “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” “Bumblebee,” and a Golden Globe–nominated turn in Kelly Fremon Craig’s “The Edge of Seventeen.” Her newest challenge is executive producing Alena Smith’s Peabody Award-winning “Dickinson” from AppleTV+, and leading the comedy series with a take on poet Emily Dickinson that she calls “so weird and cool and different and just interesting.”
Her role as producer is exactly the kind of challenge Steinfeld looks for, and will continue to look for amid our ongoing pandemic and beyond. “I have never, ever in my entire life or career been on this many email chains and phone calls and, in this case now, Zoom calls,” she says of producing the show. “It’s really incredible just seeing how much and how many people it takes to bring something together.”
Finally, Steinfeld’s advice for other artists—of any age—is to ask questions. “Be curious and know that you’re never going to have all the answers,” she concludes. “I hope I don’t ever have all the answers.” To hear her “In the Envelope” interview in full, tune in at any of the podcast platforms below.
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